Beer: Ratings & Reviews

Reviews by FtownThrowDown:

Pours black in color with only a ring of head. Smell is slight coffee. All roasted coffee in the taste. You have to like coffee because it is the dominant flavor. Very thin and watery for a stout. Easy drinking, but the roastiness lingers for awhile.This needs to be beefed up and a few flavors added.

More User Reviews:

A- This beer has a deep black body with a warm brown glow of light at the base of the glass. There is a strong carbonation of tiny bubbles that can be seen gliding up the sides of the glass. There is a rocky light tan head that last a good bit but fades to a thin ring.

S- The light smell of chocolate malt has a slight tartness to it but otherwise the smell is pretty clean.

T- This beer has a chocolate malt flavor with a sharp little tart hint and a flavor of chocolate nougat in the finish. As the beer warms the tartness increases and there is a note of chalk that comes through.

M- This beer has a medium mouthfeel with a watery texture.

D- The light color, light taste and watery texture make this more of a porter and even at that it is not interesting enough to enjoy as a session beer.

When poured into my glass, the head was very small and quickly diminished. There was no lacing on the sides of my glass and the hue was black. This beer had a mild roasted coffee nose and a coffee flavor that lingered. The mouthfeel was smooth and thin.

Thanks to hopdog...Appears a dark brown, nearing black with a small tan head that slowly fades out. Spotty bits of lacing are left around the glass.Smell is of roasted barley, cocoa, toasted nuts, cream, and bitter grain.Tsate is of sweet, grainy, mildly tart, grassy notes, with light molasses.Mouthfeel is grainy, chewy, medium bodied, and lightly bitter.

Pours very dark, almost black with a tight tan head that leaves nice lace down the glass. Roasted malt aroma with some coffee and chocolate. Medium bodied with a smooth, creamy mouthfeel. Flavor is of toasted malt with hints of coffee and milk chocolate. Some bitterness comes through at the end to balance nicely. A bit subdued in taste compared to other stouts, but still very good.

On tap at the Back Road 10th Anniversary, served in a pint glass. This stout poured a deep brown color with light mahogany edges. There was a two-finger thick tan head that slowly diminished, leaving some light lacing. The aroma was mostly roasted malts with some light coffee and chocolate notes. The flavor was more of the same, but with a stronger cold coffee presence. Also a bit of spicy hops at the end. The mouthfeel was medium-bodied, with light carbonation. A bit watery for a stout. Not bad.

T= 3.0 It tasted very watery for the first beer of the night. Not much overlying flavors but really light hints of coffee that's about it

F= 3.0 light bodied and watery mouth feel

D= 3.5 Light! I was kind of let down by this beer. I like supporting local breweries and back road does make some good beers, but this one more of an introductory stout. I wasn't sure what Chuck was reaching for on this one. I gave it low score on drinkability because well, I just don't want to finish mine. Not very tasty.

Appearance: Pours dark chestnut brown, and settles in the glass as an almost opaque black. Head forms at about 1/2" and quickly dissapates to a very thin layer of tiny bubbles.

Smell: Very subdued coffee and roasted peat notes. Very faint metallic and sweet chocolate notes as well. It's also possible that this beer is being served at too cold a temperature to allow the nose to open up.

Taste/Mouthfeel/Drinkability: Hits the tongue with a blast of smoky coffee that quickly turns to a nice hoppy coffee in the middle. The moderate carbonation makes it creamy and smooth and very easy to drink. The aftertaste is clean and malty with a pleasant hop character. Very nice!

A: Poured aggresively and black as night into a pint glass. A somewhat tan head dissolves somewhat quickly. A thin tan head is left behind.

S: This screams butterscotch. There also some hints of sweet chocolate.

T: It seems typical of the style overall, but for some reason I'm still tasting and smelling butterscotch. I'm really enjoying it.

M: The slightest carbonation makes it different than the mouthfeel of a glass of water. Way to thin for my tastes.

Overall: If it wasn't for the butterscotch notes that I observed, I probably would have rated this much, much lower. It was even thinner than I thought it would be, which really dissapointed me. Overall, I enjoyed drinking it.

Pours a great pitch color with great initial tan head and nice lacing, fading to smaller, but still visible head. Nice roasted barley scent with a coffee undertone. Sweet malty flavor, maybe crystal grains?; Nice coffee on the tongue. Goes down smooth, if a bit sweet.

Pours a dark chocolate brown, almost black but not quite, with a compact fast fading head. It left no lace on my glass just a "cling ring". Aroma of toasted bread, smells like Dutch rusk from my childhood. Chocolate and weak coffee aromas as well. This a smooth tasting stout. Slightly bitter, some chocolate notes but minimal. Nothing fancy here, just a decent brew. Nothing offensive at all, just not stellar either. A nice middle of the road (Back Road) stout. Medium body and the carbonation is in line with the style. Pretty drinkable overall and I look forward to trying it on tap someday soon.

I had this on-tap at Wagner's restaurant. Two pitchers shared with a buddy into pint glasses.

Pours black in color with a one inch tan head. It retained fairly well and left minimal lacing.

Aroma was quite mild overall but not bad for the style. Chocolate, dry roastiness, coffee and cream, and a slight fruity character.

Taste was nice and chocolaty up front with a mild fruity character in the middle. Dry roastiness comes in as strong coffee flavors for the finish, a bit of mineral character there as well that I seem to get with most of their beers.

I don't always like to add two reviews for different servings but I liked this one on-tap a lot more than the bottle. Finishing two pitchers was quite easy, especially if we weren't eating massive amounts of food.

Nearly black... if you hold it to the light... just a bit gets through. Has a tan foam on top which has good retention, and leaves a lace down the glass. Aroama of coffee and chocolate... a touch of earthy hops as well. Flavor has quite a bit of toasted malt at the front, with some coffee and chocolate... a decent amount of bitterness at the end. Very smooth and creamy, with a medium to full body. A very good stout.

Nice dark, nearly black, body. Thick, creamy off-white head. Decent retention, nice thick rings left on the glass. Aroma of roasted malt, with chocolate and coffee notes. A bit weaker smell than I'd like in a stout. Rich roasted malt taste with taste of creamy chocolate - almost like a bit of Nestle in the mix. Also hints of coffee. Has a strange creamy, yet slightly rough mouthfeel. Not bad. Overall, this is a very drinkable stout. Good taste, rich without being overpowering. Low alcohol makes it an excellent session and breakfast brew.

pours out the darkest shade of brown. a thin, fine head shows itself before settling down to a ring of brown foam at the outer edges. a steady stream of carbonation works to the surface. nice aroma of fruit tinged black malt. floral hops too. all pretty light. medium body...slick, creamy yet crisp in the finish. refreshing. moderate bitterness. an extrordinarily easy drinking yet somewhat flavorful stout. what it lacks in "oomph", it makes up in drinkability. a breakfast, summertime, anytime stout.

thanks to kennywoodbrew for offering up this gem as the second bottle from BIF.

Pours an onyx black with quick one finger light tan head that dies down to a paper thin layer which lasts throughout. Some decent seaweed lacing here and there on the sides of the glass. Aroma is a sharp acidic molasses with cocoa powder and roasted malts. Smoked wood and coffee beans in the nose as well...interesting. Big French Roast flavors with some caramel malts in the background. Roasted grain flavors linger right into the aftertaste...meh. Watery mouthfeel with the slightest tingle of carbonation. Drinkability is there only because this is such a bland beer, not bad, just plain. A bit off for the style, but I bet with some tweaking this could be a solid Dry Stout. Thanks for the extra Tim!

This brew poured a small head of light brown bubbles that quickly disapated and left a fair lacing. It has a stout like opaque black brown body with a sweet malt aroma. The flavor is full bodied with notes of coffee, malt and molasses. Not a real strong stout in its stout like qualities but a fine brew none-the-less.